Re: The 2nd Annual, 2012 BLIND Sampling Tournament Will Begin!

We're back! And the tournament will continue...

I am posting a link that reveals the real list of fragrances and their corresponding numbers. Keep this list on hand, as it's very important for the next round when you set up your bracket. I have not seen this list (only my wife has), and will not see it until the end of the tournament:

12/10/12 I'm a little bored at the moment and the tournament bracket isn't up yet, so I'm going to add to this post by giving insight into some of my guesses, that I listed above. It's possible nobody will read this, but it can't hurt the post and I'd rather get it all down before heading into the next part of the experiment which will move fast and be over before I know it.

So here's the how and why behind my guesses:

#1: Cereus #11: The anise note gave this away. It's listed as containing anise and there is a definite anise note in the top. Some reviews also describe it as a very nice masculine. I would agree (at least on paper).

#2: Gaiac, M. Micallef: I'm not positive about this guess, but after reading as many reviews as possible, one particular review caught my attention, describing Gaiac as the smell of "freshly baked spicy cookies." In my blind review of this fragrance I likened it to holiday cookies, or freshly baked gingerbread cookies. Also, a lot of references to "sweet," "spicy," and "warm," which this fragrance is.

#3: Thundra: I arrived here via process of elimination only. I get a kick out of how some fragrances are marketed or described by the house, and the effect that the power of suggestion has on subsequent reviews. Thundra is described by Luckyscent as "A solitary walk through a cool, damp forest after the rain." Not surprisingly, about 84% of the reviews on basenotes, fragrantica and other sites make some allusion to a wet forest and rain and being alone when describing Thundra. Well, if this is indeed Thundra that I've tested, then my response to Luckyscent and the other 84% of reviewers is "Ummm...Okay." That's why I do this blind--to avoid all that sensational crap. Anyway, I smell something like pear or apple, and maybe citrus and mint. Not very solitary or wet or foresty.

#4: Ormonde Man: Contains pink pepper (which I detected) and cardamom and coriander (which I think I mistook for cumin). I found this extremely well blended, and apparently so have many others. It's described as sweet and spicy, and I agree. And one guy said it reminded him of Declaration--and I completely disagree--but it affirms my cumin suspicion, and there's enough evidence here for a solid guess.

#5: Frank No. 2: Listed as containing bergamot, lavender, and musk, which I clearly pick up on. And it's very possible I'm mistaking pear, for what is really plum. Despite the fact that coffee and cognac are apparently very evident notes in this one, and I detect NONE, I'm chalking that up to the fact that I tested this on paper, and for some reason that caused them to disappear.

#6: Ambre 114: Many frag sniffers consider this a first cousin to Ambre Precieux, and I couldn't agree more. Besides Ambre Russe, the other amber fragrance I ordered a sample of, is supposed to smell like leather, booze, and cigarettes--and this smells nothing like that at all. This has to be Ambre 114.

#7: Atlantic:Very little info exists on Atlantic. And any review likening it to the Atlantic Ocean or (and this one is a hoot) any description such as: "The box says something about a well-traveled man's voyage across the Atlantic. I wonder if that's why when I first spray, I swear I smell an old wooden ship. Maybe a haunted one!" is ridiculous. Like I said before, one of the most fun parts of this whole thing is seeing how full of shit people get in their reviews. No offense, I get it. Anyway, after scouring the internets for a review remotely resembling a fraction of the impression I received from Atlantic, I stumbled upon the non-blonde's review of it. The non-blonde, wrote a review on her (his? I don't know. I don't know who the non-blonde is) website which states, "...it reminds me of a high quality men's cologne...in the best way possible." And that, is exactly what it reminds me of. Along with an importantly placed mint note in the background, these are the two reasons I'm going Atlantic on this one.

#8 Cereus 6: I found out this is often mislabeled as "Cereus 5." Hey, maybe Cereus should get off their asses and come up with some more creative names since the frag community is beginning to mislabel them. How about "Cereusly Overpriced?" or "Cereusly, We Didn't Know This Smelled Just Like Terre D'Hermes." "Cereus 6? I didn't even know that existed!" Don't worry, you're not the only one! No one did! Oh, I know this is Cereus 6 because it smells like a weak TDH, which is how everyone describes it. If you're in the contest and didn't get this one it's your fault for not doing your homework.

#9: Avant Garde I guessed this because it's listed as containing a dry cocoa note, and I definitely get that. But also because Foetidus (base notes most esteemed reviewer since off-scenter suffered an identity crisis and subsequently attempted to erase any trace of his online existence) said in his review of Avant Garde "I scribbled a vague, noncommittal description..." (to which he returned later). And that was my initial impression as well--vague and noncommittal. I just didn't know what the hell was going on, or if anything at all was going on. So this is my guess for number nine.

#10: Coze Definitely. Chocolate and Marijuana and Cloves---many people get this from Coze and so do I (though I find it more clovey than Mary Janey).

#11: Ambre Russe I got Boozy Chocolate liqueur, tobacco, and a sour skankiness. Some similarity to APLS and Ambre Sultan. That seems about right.

#12: L'Ombre Fauve I got wet socks. Reviewer "jcrich" states in his basenotes review, "there is, to my nose, a stale note in the opening which takes a couple hours to dissipate . It reminds me of the smell of laundry that hasn't aired properly." Jcrich was being nice. Perhaps we're onto something. That's why I think this is L'Ombre Fauve.

#13:Memoir Man It's just how I imagined it, just what I had wanted from mint and incense. My impression matches most reviews though it seems a little "happier" and less brooding than some have described. I'm fine with that.

#14: De Bachmakove This fragrance DOES very much evoke Spring and Luckyscent describes it as "a poetic fugue on the magical moment when snow begins to melt on the steppes and the earth gives way to the rites of Spring." Okay, that fits. It's also described as containing "aromatic bergamot, lemony shiso, and a tangy aldehydic fizziness, and white floral notes." Well, the first thing I felt about this fragrance was a pale yellow, and white floral, and what I described as "sharp" is described here as "tangy." I'm pretty sure this is de Bachmakov. If it's not, it's Thundra, and then my whole rant about Thundra that I made ealier on will backfire on me in an explosion of shame and humiliation. Also, De Bachmakov was created, I discovered, by Celline Ellena. And before I saw that, I was thinking to myself, "I can imagine Jean Claude Ellena creating this." I didn't know he had a daughter. I bet Celline smells awesome!

#15: Wazamba Holy smokes, I detected Myrrh and Myrrh is actually listed as a note here. It feels good to see myself making some progress as far as note detection goes. Two years ago I though Myrhh was....I don't know. Two years ago I didn't think about Myrhh! There's a review that states, "...fruity vibe mingles with pine to in to a different direction when the incense enters." Well, I don't get any pine but I agree with the rest. Fruity cigarettes. And the fruit appears to be apple and plum. Now, it's not Kwanzaa yet, but it will be soon, and in the spirit of the holiday I would just like to say, "WAZAMBA!"

I have no idea how many of these I got correct. But I think I did pretty well. We'll see. Well, you guys can check it out already
at this link: http://tinyurl.com/ah9en4g but I can't--that would be cheating.

By the way, if you read this, do me a favor and bump it. This thread seems to sink faster than a cinder block in the East River.

Re: The 2nd Annual, 2012 BLIND Sampling Tournament Will Begin!

Wow, I didn't think I'd be tied for first place at this point! Buysblind, thanks for doing this, it's fun to play along

This whole exercise also shows how hard it is to describe a scent to others. The language of scent is mostly based on metaphors, which isn't always accurate.

And, I found myself relying on pyramids and notes lists to figure out what something might be, even knowing full well the sense of smell is extremely subjective and hard to describe. I once had a friend describe Bleu de Chanel as "grape soda" (?!) and another friend describe Aventus as "like an old folks home". So, it's hard to determine what a scent might be based on someone else's blind description of it. Still, it's fun to guess!

Re: The 2nd Annual, 2012 BLIND Sampling Tournament Will Begin!

Originally Posted by Trauerkraut

...blind sampling: pleonasm or contamination...??

Well, I think a lot of times when you're sampling something you've heard a lot about or that's been hyped up or whatever, you're expecting something particular from it, whether it's notes, a certain kind of mood, or just whether or not you'll like it in general. So sampling isn't something that you go into 'blind' when you have a pre-conceived notion. So as far as pleonasm is concerned, if you're saying that the phrase "blind sampling" is redundant, I don't agree, as I find it a much different experience when I don't know what it is I'm sampling than when I do.

As far as contamination, the purpose of blind sampling is to avoid that as much as possible, to test a frag without the influence of suggestion.

Then again, you may be asking something completely different so I'm really not sure how to address your question.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by hobbes22

This whole exercise also shows how hard it is to describe a scent to others. The language of scent is mostly based on metaphors, which isn't always accurate.

A*Men to that. I almost felt bad at times know you guys were relying on my descriptions for the first part of the game, like I knew my impression was either way off, or way different than what you'd be able to find in reviews and stuff.

Hobbes, I give you a lot of credit for trying! To guess, I tried a little of both (notes lists and metaphors) to see where I thought the two intersected and matched up. There were some times when it was obvious what it was, or at least what it was NOT, and other times where it was very tough to tell. I think it would be really interesting to try something like this with say, just vetivers, or leathers, and see how many you could identify.

What? That's crazy! It's like I just traveled to the past and then back to the future in ONE THREAD! Or was it two? And how many tabs did that open? AHHHHH!! I don't know anymore, these threads are chock full of time portholes. Watch out!